Presently almost all forms of oral medication are manufactured in a form to be swallowed, thereafter to be dissolved within the lumen of the gasterointestinal tract and absorbed into the circulation whence it is distributed throughout the body. Occasionally, a suitable oral form is a liquid when it is swallowed, but to be sure a patient is receiving the entire dose of liquid medicine, often it must be coalesced with a diluent. In the instances the liquid medicine does not make a solution with a diluent that is agreeable to most people, there is considerable risk of day to day variation in dose received by the patient. When such a drug has a therapeutic dose and a toxic dose which are nearly equal, the disadvantage of the variation is enhanced, and the danger to the patient increased.
Some drugs, such as cyclosporine, are particularly difficult to administer. B. Ota, in an article entitled Administration of Cyclosporine, Transplantation Proceedings, Vol. XV, No. 4 Suppl. I. (December) 1983, points out that cyclosporine is soluble in alcohol and fat solvents, but not in acqueous solutions, thus making the administration of cyclosporine difficult. The article notes that because cyclosporine is fat soluble and dispensable in an oil base, it is considered quite distasteful by most patients.
In spite of mixing with chocolate milk, some patients vomited the liquid initially although later adapting to it and tolerating the drug for long term therapy. It is noted, however, that in one instance, the early nausea produced low blood levels and an early rejection episode. A convenient means of orally administering a lipophilic drug is therefore desirable.